Maribeth Boelts's Blog, page 4

Super-Size Me

Just got this back from G&R Publishing in Waverly, IA... a giant copy of Dogerella!  This size is SO much better for sharing with groups of kids, and much sturdier, too, as compared to the original version.  I'm looking forward to super-sizing some additional titles-- anything to avoid using PowerPoint to read a story!

When Scribbled Notes Tell a Story

Time has its big boy boots on.  I picked this sheet of paper off my table and as I read over the notes I had made about a story I've been working on, I noticed two other "stories" happening.  It perfectly encapsulates what's been going on since my last, long-ago post.

There are three parts...

1) Grocery list:  Potatoes, Onions.  No matter what else is happening, we need to eat. Wow, could this list be any more boring? 
2) Revision notes:  I have been swallowed by some very huge revisions for both a middle grade and a chapter book.  These notes were made to weave in a sub-plot to the middle grade.  It actually worked but took some major remodeling.
3) Mayo Phone Number: Unexpected news has thrust us all into a new land, especially for our youngest.

Interspersed with household, writing and Rochester, I have had some particularly wonderful experiences doing school visits lately, and look forward to many coming up in April and May.   I am encouraged, refueled, and inspired by kids (and GREAT teachers)--that never changes!

New book news to come once I have photos!

One more book.

Winter+Iowa+Gift Cards=Reading

I recommend them all.  Simultaneously. 

Up for Air

1) Brand new author, 46-year old Clare Vanderpool just won the Newberry with her first book, "Moon Over Manifest",  I read an interview with her and she said it took her 5 years to write while raising her four children.  She grabbed the time while they were watching Sesame Street.  This is the kind of news that should encourage every writer out there, still working their day job,  honing their craft, hungering for more time to write and needing good news every once in a while.  Go, Clare Vanderpool! 2) This from my agent for everyone writing scenes that include school cafeterias: ""Mystery Meat" is overused, has been for years. The phrase in a middle grade ms makes me think Generic. Dig deeper, writers. Cafeteria food is a cliche— as airline food was to stand-up comics years back."

3) My new middle grade remains untitled.  It's actually had three working titles, all worse than the other.  Here they are..."HORSE" (I liken this to someone asking you to describe your child and you say, "Well, he has a head and a body.")"THE SWITCH" (Yes, there is a "switch" that takes place in the story, but this title is also the title of a movie with Jennifer Anniston that got bad reviews.  Not to be confused with "The Help" which was the perfect title for a perfect book.) "PRUNIPER" (The main character's name is Juniper, and her siblings call her variations of her name including "Prune" and "Pruniper".  Would a kid choose to read a book with prune in the title?)
I even paid the 6th grade daughters of a friend of mine to read the manuscript and brainstorm some titles.  They tried hard but had about the same luck as I did.  I will press on.
4) I've been reading an interesting genre of books from Random House called"Stepping Stones".  These are bridge books for the reader who has graduated from early readers but isn't quite ready for middle grade novels.  The word count seems to be 8,000-12,000, which is less than half of a middle grade novel. After Christmas I hardly came up for air as I experimented with this new genre-- writing from early morning through evening.   I submitted the new manuscript this week.  It's an easy-breezy plot line-- all action, no backstory, and geared to the third grade boy who might be a reluctant reader. The big miracle is that I actually like the title, too. 
This was one of the Stepping Stones books.  Nice little mystery with just the right amount of eeriness.
5) One of my biggest fears, outside of flying and my brakes going out in the mountains and the car rolling backwards (!), is being accused of plagiarizing someone's work.  So when I get an idea for a book, one of my first stops is Amazon to see if someone else has had that same idea.  If the storyline seems even remotely close, I don't write it.  With this latest story, I didn't do any checking and decided just to run with it.  I didn't think I'd read anything like it, but I wasn't sure.  So I finished the story, shipped it off and THEN checked Amazon.  Lo and behold, there's a book that shares some similarities but it's for a younger audience and the central conflict is completely different.  Darwin needed to point all this out to me as I stared at the computer screen and hyperventilated.  A few years back, beloved author Helen Lester had a picture book called "Score One for the Sloths" come out months before I had an early reader come out entitled "The Sloths Get a Pet".  I wrote a letter to Helen expressing my concern about her thinking I copied her idea, and she wrote me back such a gracious letter--  "There is certainly room in this world for more than one sloth book."  I know that ideas are out there for everyone, and that it's our unique take on that idea that makes a story our own.  That's what I tell kids, anyway.  
6)  If you struggle with plot more than characterization- stop right now and go plop down your hard-earned cabbage to see the movie "True Grit".  Note how the story launches--within the first minute or so, we know what that main character wants (and wants BADLY), and we can imagine what stands in her way. Then the story unfolds with one huge complication after another.  I saw the John Wayne version of this movie when it came out, but when I say "saw", I mean I was 6 years old and running around with my siblings and cousins at the drive-in theater as my parents watched it in the car.  Go, Coen Brothers!

6)  Enjoy your writing weather, wherever you live.  Nothing better than sub-zero temps and icy roads for hunkering down and focusing! Sorry this post is so long-- this is what happens when we haven't talked for a while!

What To Do When A Door is Locked

So, people say that writing takes a persistent, mostly gentle touch most of the time.  Don't force.  Let the story tell itself.  Be sure your characters lead the story. But there are times, like in the revision process of this middle grade story for example, when I've had to call in the battering ram.  It's the beginning that  I'm confused about (nice way to say "tantrum-ing about") The second half of the story is where all the action begins, and that's actually working.  I have revised/scrapped, revised/scrapped for a while now.  Enough.  Battering ram, set to work.  Time to write a new beginning.  Let's crack this story open.

What a trip!

The trip to Cambodia was life-changing, eye-opening and heart-softening.  I know that I've just overused hyphenated words, but each descriptor is true.  Here's a little summary...

With two nurses in our group, plus Molly (daughter of one of the gals in our group, missionary in Cambodia) who has training in third world medicine, we ran medical clinics in two slum areas, one outlying village and in an orphanage.  These two little guys were perfectly healthy and loved my camera!  My job at the clinics was running our makeshift "pharmacy".  Tylenol, medicine for parasites and antibiotics were the most in demand.
Cambodia today is a nation of children and young adults as a result of the Khmer Rouge's genocide in the 1970s.  Many of these children are from the orphanage where we held a clinic. Molly is front and center.  Her sister, Erin is in the pink tie-dye shirt.


Our gang enjoying some r&r in Thailand.  I learned that ordering your food "medium hot" in Thailand means something very different from the US.  YOWZA! 
To keep kids entertained while they waited their turn at the clinic, they colored pictures. This 16 year old young man's living conditions were as poor as you can imagine, yet we spotted him  hanging these pictures on the outer walls of his shack. This scene touched me at a deep level.  What struck me was our universal, personal desire for beauty and order, no matter what the circumstance.  After seeing this photo developed I noticed that the back of his shirt says "realize". 


In Thailand, we swam with elephants in the jungle at an elephant camp, then went for a long ride. This was an unbelievable experience! Did you know elephants are hairy?  Did you know, too, that they are AMAZING? 

I know this is a weird highlight but I made lists of ways we traveled to and around Cambodia/Thailand.  Planes (survived!), taxis, vans, buses, ferries, trucks, tuk-tuks, bikes (well, one of us) elephants, motos (above-yes, I'm excited!) and the back of a policeman's motorcycle (SO worth the $5.00 I gave him) There are other lists, too, but that blog will come later. : )

Cambodia

This Wednesday, I leave for Cambodia with a group of friends for a 16 day trip.  We're going to visit the daughter and sister of two of the women in our group.  Her name is Molly, and she's been a missionary in Battambang, Cambodia for the last 4+ years.  She plans on returning to the US in 2011, so this is a chance for her to show us first-hand everything she's loved about the country and people she's served so faithfully.  Molly will be our tour guide and has an itinerary for us that will keep us busy the entire time, either serving or sight-seeing. We'll take a walk in her shoes- visiting the orphanage her team started (photo above of one of the beautiful children there), helping at health clinics (two in our group are nurses) and serving in the Youth Center.  We'll visit the temple complex of Angkor Wat, one of the seven wonders of the world, and may travel to Thailand, or to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to visit the Vietnam War memorial.  We'll ride on motos (a moped/motocycle), eat like the locals, and do it all together!  I am so excited to be in Cambodia!

Truth be told, the flight has been the only real concern.   I used to be nearly phobic about flying, avoiding it at all costs,  but after facing it down flight after flight, I can say it's been down-graded to a resigned, tense toleration (c'mon, that's better), with the exception of a flight where the pilot repeatedly attempted to land the plane in 60 mph wind sheers.  That was a bad one.  This flight, all 24-hours-in-the-air-6-take-offs-and-landings-total, should help knock down the bulk of this stubborn fear.  I think psychologists call it "exposure therapy".  With wonderful, calm friends around, and lots to do to keep busy on the plane, I think it will be okay.  Just wished I hadn't read the CNN article "What Your Pilot Doesn't Want You to Know".  Seems they're running light on fuel these days to save the airline money.  Comforting, considering we're flying over a billion miles of OCEAN. Also wished I hadn't watched the opening scene of "Lost", when the plane breaks in two mid-air. 

Courage means feeling fear and doing it anyway... I've always loved that quote, and I think it applies perfectly in this situation. Cambodia, here we come!

Don't Hide It Under A Bushel

I returned from a conference for the Iowa branch of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators this past weekend.  Beyond getting to meet and work with the faculty,  rub shoulders with Iowa authors, and learn, learn, learn--I loved just listening to other people's stories.  There's SO much hidden talent out there, and I'm not sure there's much more thrilling than getting to witness a hidden talent being uncovered.  It happened this weekend.  Writers who were working their day jobs, raising kids, doing life, etc, but still writing, hoping, learning and pressing on.  Then they invested in a conference, got very brave and shared what they've kept under wraps, and voila-- the room almost sparkled with their new take, their new voice, their new idea!  How awesome it that?

So, three cheers for new BOOKS to come!

Peek

Early preview of the cover art for the new Random House reader, "Sleeping Bootsie".  This book was written in response to the little girls I meet that ask me, "How come you don't ever write about cats?"